Risk of Unnatural Mortality in People With Epilepsy

Question What is the risk and medication contribution to cause-specific unnatural mortality in people with epilepsy?

Findings In this population-based cohort study, more than 50 000 people with epilepsy and 1 million matched individuals without epilepsy were identified in 2 data sets from the general populations of England and Wales. People with epilepsy had a 3-fold increased risk of any unnatural mortality and a 5-fold increased risk of unintentional medication poisoning; psychotropic and opioid, but not antiepileptic, drugs were most commonly used in poisoning.

Meaning Clinicians should provide advice on unintentional injury and poisoning and suicide prevention and consider the toxicity of concomitant medication when prescribing drugs for people with epilepsy.

Abstract

Importance People with epilepsy are at increased risk of mortality, but, to date, the cause-specific risks of all unnatural causes have not been reported.

Objective To estimate cause-specific unnatural mortality risks in people with epilepsy and to identify the medication types involved in poisoning deaths.

Design, Setting, and Participants This population-based cohort study used 2 electronic primary care data sets linked to hospitalization and mortality records, the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) in England (from January 1, 1998, to March 31, 2014) and the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage (SAIL) Databank in Wales (from January 1, 2001, to December 31, 2014). Each person with epilepsy was matched on age (within 2 years), sex, and general practice with up to 20 individuals without epilepsy. Unnatural mortality was determined using International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision codes V01 through Y98 in the Office for National Statistics mortality records. Hazard ratios (HRs) were estimated in each data set using a stratified Cox proportional hazards model, and meta-analyses were conducted using DerSimonian and Laird random-effects models. The analysis was performed from January 5, 2016, to November 16, 2017.

Exposures People with epilepsy were identified using primary care epilepsy diagnoses and associated antiepileptic drug prescriptions.

Main Outcomes and Measures Hazard ratios (HRs) for unnatural mortality and the frequency of each involved medication type estimated as a percentage of all medication poisoning deaths.

Results In total, 44 678 individuals in the CPRD and 14 051 individuals in the SAIL Databank were identified in the prevalent epilepsy cohorts, and 891 429 (CPRD) and 279 365 (SAIL) individuals were identified in the comparison cohorts. In both data sets, 51% of the epilepsy and comparison cohorts were male, and the median age at entry was 40 years (interquartile range, 25-60 years) in the CPRD cohorts and 43 years (interquartile range, 24-64 years) in the SAIL cohorts. People with epilepsy were significantly more likely to die of any unnatural cause (HR, 2.77; 95% CI, 2.43-3.16), unintentional injury or poisoning (HR, 2.97; 95% CI, 2.54-3.48) or suicide (HR, 2.15; 95% CI, 1.51-3.07) than people in the comparison cohort. Particularly large risk increases were observed in the epilepsy cohorts for unintentional medication poisoning (HR, 4.99; 95% CI, 3.22-7.74) and intentional self-poisoning with medication (HR, 3.55; 95% CI, 1.01-12.53). Opioids (56.5% [95% CI, 43.3%-69.0%]) and psychotropic medication (32.3% [95% CI, 20.9%-45.3%)] were more commonly involved than antiepileptic drugs (9.7% [95% CI, 3.6%-19.9%]) in poisoning deaths in people with epilepsy.

Conclusions and Relevance Compared with people without epilepsy, people with epilepsy are at increased risk of unnatural death and thus should be adequately advised about unintentional injury prevention and monitored for suicidal ideation, thoughts, and behaviors. The suitability and toxicity of concomitant medication should be considered when prescribing for comorbid conditions.